Verse Text
tatra viṣādād, yathā –
śvetīkṛtākhila-janaṁ viraheṇa tavādhunā |
gokulaṁ kṛṣṇa devarṣeḥ śvetadvīpa-bhramaṁ dadhe ||48||
Translation
From grief: O Kṛṣṇa! In separation from You, all the inhabitants of Vraja have now turned white, such that Nārada has mistaken Gokula for Svetadvīpa.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
The inhabitants of Svetadvīpa are described in the Mokṣa-dharma section of the Nārāyaṇīya:
Śvetāḥ pumāṁso gata-sarva-duḥkhāś cakṣur muṣaḥ pāpa-kṛtāṁ narāṇām
The men who previously committed sins are white, blinding to the eyes, because all their sufferings have been destroyed.
śvetadvīpa-patau cittaṁ śuddhe dharma-maye mayi
dhārayaṣ chvetatāṁ yāti ṣaḍ-ūrmi-rahito naraḥ
A human being who concentrates on Me as the upholder of religious principles, the personification of purity and the Lord of Śvetadvīpa obtains the pure existence in which he is freed from the six waves of material disturbance, namely hunger, thirst, decay, death, grief and illusion. SB 11.15.18
In the commentary on this verse, it is explained that the word śvetatām (whiteness) means having a pure form. The word śveta thus means in this context, being śuddha-sattva. In the present verse, there is pun on this word with the normal meaning of “white.”
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
Sometimes, due to great aggrievement caused by the dealings of Kṛṣṇa, the body changes color. The gopīs therefore addressed the Lord thus: “Dear Kṛṣṇa, due to separation from You, all of the denizens of Vṛndāvana have changed their color. And because of this change of color even the great sage Nārada was thinking of Vṛndāvana as a white island in the ocean of milk.”